Railway draft-rigging.



3. A. JOHNSON.

RALWAY DRAFT RGGING.

APPLicATloNmEnMAR.12.1918.

Patented Jan. 7,1919.

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UNITED sTaTEs PATENT oEEIoE. 'I

GEORGE A. JOHNSON, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AssIoNOR To WILLIAM II. MINER, OE

. OHAzY, NEW YORK.

RAILWAY DRAFTRIGGING.

Specieation of Letters Patent.

PatentedJan. '7, 1919.

Application filed March 12, 1918. SerialNo. 221,904.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE A. JOHNSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Railway Draft- Rigging, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact, description., reference being had to the accompanying draw ings, forming a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements iii railway draft riggings.

One object of the invention is to provide a friction draft gear forrailway draft rigging, which gear is provided with a large number of friction elements having large frictioiial wearing; areas, the gear being also of unusually high capacity.

Another and further object of the invention is to provide a friction gear for railway draft riggings, wherein all the friction elements may be cheaply manufactured in the form of ordinary castings.

In the drawingA forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a part side eleva-l tion, part longitudinal, vertical, sectional view of a railway draft rigviug' showing my improvements in connection therewith. Fig. 2 is a vertical, transverse. sectional view, taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. And Fig. 3 is a horizontal, sectional View of a portion of a railway draft ringing showing` another embodiment ot' the invention.

Referring to the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2, 10-10 denote the channel draft sills ot a railway car` to the inner faces of which are secured front and rear stop members 11-11. A draw bar 12J is operativelv connected to the draft sill by any suitable yoke-acting means, as for instance, the strap 13.

The shock absorbing mechanism proper, as shown. comprises a front follower A, rear follower B. a front set of wedges C-C, a rear set of wedges D-l). a central friction member E, a front set of upper and lower r sidelfriction members F-F. a rear set 'of upper and lower or sideI friction meinbers Gv-G, tour bolts H-H and four main sprinsfs .lL-Jl. n

Each follower A and B isprovidcd on its inner face with a pair of pockets or recesses 14-14f separated bv` a"A transversely extending rib 15, the pockets 14 beinq adapted to loosely receive the ends of the corresponding wedges C-C and DD. In normal position of the parts, there is a slight clearance, asindicated at 16, between each of the wedge members and the ,follower rib 15. This is done to compensate for any slight variations in manufacture and also to permit slight adjustment of the wedges on the followers to compensate for `wearoii thel frietional surfaces.

The wedges C-C andyD-D are provided at their inner ends with wedge .faces 1,7-17 arranged in opposed pairs, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. f

The central friction member E. in the construction shown', is an elongated plate-like member, the ends ofwhich are slidable between the sets of Wedges C;C and D-D, the friction member E andthe wedges having horizontally extending( slidable friction faces. At its center, the friction member E is enlarged -so as to provide an upper set of opposed wedge faces 18'and' a lower set ot opposed "wedge faces 19-19. *The -friction -members F-F and (l-G are beveled er wedge-shaped on their ends. as indicated at 20 and 21, to copcrate with the wedge yfaces 17-17 of the wedges C-C and D-D on the one hand and the wedge faces 18-18 and 19-19 on the other hand.

To accommodate the bolts ll-H, all of the members E. F-F and (lr-G are provided with suitable al'ined openings. thosein the central friction member Flbeing longitudinallv eloutrated, as indicated at Q2. so as to permit movement of the bolts H lengthwise of the friction member E. Each of the bolts H carries a slidable spring follower 23' to engage the upper end ot the corresponding spring J and a lower follower 24. against which the lower 'end of the spring J is seated. Each upper follower 23 is provided with an upstanding boss 25 tn 4engage the lower` face of the correspondan; friction members F and G. As clearlv appears from Fig. 2, the bolts H-H aredisposcd on op- Vflanges at the sides thereof. as indicated at 26-26 so as to sliahtlv overlap the sides or ends of the wedges (l-C and D D and friction members F-F and G-G.

Upon either buff or draft, it is evident that the followers A and. B will approach each other relatively and in so doing, the Wedges C-C and D-D will force the friction elements kFf-F and G-G apart and against the action of the springs lJ-J.' At the same time, friction will be generated betwee`n the ends of the central friction mem ber E and each set of wedges C--C and D-D since the central friction member E will be forced to slide longitudinally under the infiuence of the friction elements F-F and G'-Gwhich engage the wedge portions 18-18 and y19-19 of the central friction member. With my arrangement, Iam enabled to obtain an unusually high capacity because of `the use of four springs kand the duplicated arrangement of friction elements with the Heating central friction member E. Furthermore, all of the -friction elements may be made in the form of ordinary castings at comparatively small expense.

In the construction illustrated in Fig. 3, the friction elements shown in Figs. 1 and 2 have been turned through an angle of 90 so as to extend the bolts H-H horizontally, one of'said bolts being extended in one direction through a slot 27 in one sill and the r other bolt through a slot 28 in the opposite sill. 'In this form, the springs J are' locatedoutside of the sills instead of beneath, as in the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The arrangement of friction elements is the same in all substantial respects andthe operation is the same as in the structure shown in Figs. 1 and 2. In some cases it mav be desirable to extend the springs downwardly and in other cases'horizontally tothe sides of the sills, depending upon the conditions of the car structure around the draft rigging.

I claim:

1. In a fridtion shock absorbing mecha-Y nism. thel combination with relatively movable end followers. of end wedges on the inner faces of said followers, a central friction member frictionallv engaging said wedges. said central friction member having also additional wedges associated therewith and located intermediate said end wedges, outer friction members coperable with all of said wedges. and spring means for resisting relative approach of said followers and acting through said outer friction members.

2. In a friction shock absorbing mechanism, the combination with relatively movable end followers, of a central friction member located between said followers and having friction surfaces at its ends and wedge surfaces intermediate its ends, Wedges movable in unison with said followers and having friction surfaces coperable with the end friction surfaces of said central member. friction members arranged on each side of saidI central friction member and having wedge faces coperable with said wedges andthe central friction member, and spring means for resisting relative approach of the followers.

3. In a friction shock absorbing mechanism, the combination with a pair ofend followers, each having a pair ofwedges detachably mounted on its inner face, the wedges of each pair being spaced, of a central floating friction member'having its ends frietionally engaged between the wedges of each pair, said central frictionmember having a wedge section near its center, and duplicate sets of friction members on each side of said central friction member and coperable with said wedges and. wedge section of the central member.

4. In a shock absorbing mechanism, the combination with end followers each having a pair of wedges mounted on its inner face, said wedges being substantially prevented'l from movement transversely of the followers, of a floating central friction member frictionally coperable with said wedgesandI provided intermediate its ends with a wedgeI section, .friction members on each' si' .parallel to the axis of the gear. a central friction plate haring its ends frictionally 'engagingwith said friction vsurfaces of the wedgesysaid central friction member having wedge surfaces facing inonnosite directions and on each side thereof. friction members on each side of the central friction member and having wedge-shaped ends coperable with said wedges and the wedge surfaces of the central friction member. said side frietion members being `separable in directions at right angles to the axis of the gear upon relative approach of the followers, and spring means 'for resisting separation of the side friction members.

6. In a railwav draft rigging, the combination with draft sills. draw'bar. and volteacting meansaof front and rear followers. a pair of wedges detachablv mounted on the inner face of each follower. said wedges having friction surfaces extending parallel to the axis of the gear. a central friction plate having its ends frictionally engaging' with said friction surfaces of the wedges, said central friction member having wedge surfaces facing in opposite directions and each side of the central friction member and of said central friction member, there beiner one having- \\'e l -islniped ends copernbie with smid wedges :ind the wedge urfnceg of the rentra] iriltion nuinher. Suid sido friction nuinhvw4 living ymumble in directions :it right. :ingles to the nxiS of the gen1? upon rehitiw approach oi the foihnvors, and spring' n `uns for resisting separation of the miti sitio friction members. said spring 'means including bolts extendingI through the central and side. friction members and 10 at right. angleg to the axis of the gear, and springs mounted on said boit-s adapted to be vompressed as the Said side friction members are separated.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I 15 have hereunto subscribed my name this 26th (my of Feb., 1918.

GEORGE A. JOHNSON. 

